Dear New York Times

Re: How the Epidemic of Drug Overdose Deaths Ripples Across America (1/19/2016)
From: painkills2@aol.com
To: letters@nytimes.com, public@nytimes.com, publisher@nytimes.com
Cc: jmonahan@ix.netcom.com

Your publication is just one of many that has helped to create the opioid “epidemic.” (And don’t think that 100 million pain patients will ever forget that.)

I don’t know how you choose which “experts” to quote in your drug-war articles — or how you even determine who is actually an expert — but in the case of Jennifer Weiss-Burke from New Mexico, you’ve made a terrible mistake. Is there anything in this woman’s background, besides the tragedy of her son’s death, that would suggest she’s an expert in addiction and its treatment? Are you basing her expertise on the fact that the state has showered her with funds to open up her own addiction clinics (where they use reiki as a treatment option)?

Let’s look at a few of her online comments, shall we?

Jennifer Weiss · Top Commenter · Albuquerque, New Mexico

And one more thing. Since it looks like you hate cops, how many times has APD arrested your dumb butt for just being a jackass or slapping around your p*nis because no hooker in their right mind would ever touch you. So how many times have you been locked up?

Jennifer Weiss · Top Commenter · Albuquerque, New Mexico

Loretta Baca obviously you think your s*it doesn’t stink because you think violence begets violence. Wow, you’re more into death and destruction for your own gratification because your life is so boring and lacking of what is truly important. And you know what, I actually feel sorry for you. You are a pitiful excuse for a human.

“When you go right back to the same environment, it’s hard to stay clean,” [Weiss-Burke] said.

Actually, it doesn’t matter what kind of environment you return to, those who suffer from drug addiction will always have a hard time staying clean, especially if you believe that being drug-free is the only way to conquer addiction. There are plenty of parents who have sent their kids to different environments, only to result in the exact same problems.

The reputation of the NYT is not as good as it used to be, and issues like this are part of the reason why. I know the newspaper industry is going through a lot of changes, but there’s no excuse for crap like this. Are you a respected newspaper or a tabloid rag?

Johnna Stahl
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87114
(I’m too poor to have a phone)
painkills2@aol.com
https://painkills2.wordpress.com/